Update: National Italian American Foundation Demands "Scalito" Apology

Drudge Report ^ | Mon Oct 31 2005 15:56:42 ET | A. Kenneth Ciongoli

[Brian Mosely]

National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Statement:

The NIAF is distressed by the attempts of some senators and the media (CNN, CBS) to marginalize Judge Samuel Alito's outstanding record, by frequent reference to his Italian heritage and by the use of the nickname, "Scalito."

Appropriately, no one mentioned that Justice Breyer was Jewish or suggested that he was lock-step ideologically with the other Jewish Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it would have been outrageous to do so. We still do not know Justice Robert's ethnicity.

We are justly proud of Justice Alito's Italian heritage and his sterling academic and judicial records as well as his impeccable integrity. However, he should be considered as an individual. In honor of the memory of the just departed Rosa Parks the Senate champions of civil rights should insist that Judge Alito be considered only on his extraordinary merits.

Sincerely,

A. Kenneth Ciongoli

Chairman of the National Italian American Foundation

[SkyPilot]

Good!

Rush's loop tape of all the MSM Dinosaur outlets reciting the same DNC "talking points" today made my blood boil.

These are shameful people.

I hope they choke on their own venom.

[alnick]

Jeez, I'm so sick of people being hypersensitive about their heritage. One would almost think they're ashamed of it.

[TigersEye]

Thanks for a fantastic and informative reply. Coming from a milk-toast white, midwestern Protestant, Scots-blood family and raised in a Denver suburb, 'ethnicity' itself was an exotic concept until I floated off to Boulder to waste a year at college. Ethnic pride and Old Country history were non-entities to me. (Gotta thank Mel Gibson for Braveheart. It gave me a little scrap o' blood-pride to hang on to.)

I reckon we can both be thankful we're just Americans in the final analysis. The rest is just interesting history and circumstantial occurrences to me. Ain't never even seen Yurrup. Prolly ain't gunna.

Thanks again.

[HitmanLV]

I reckon we can both be thankful we're just Americans in the final analysis. The rest is just interesting history and circumstantial occurrences to me.

That's what it comes down to, I agree. I'm an American and don't really have much in common with folks in Italy. Beyond some cultural values (which are aligned with many American values I share, and in some cases values that 21st century Italians have let pass by), taste in foods, some music, etc., there isn't much that links me to the old country, really. That suits me just fine.

In fact, I always found folks who overplay their ethnic heritage a bit odd, and that emphasis misplaced. That's just me, though.

Thanks for the kind words and you're welcome!

[Gaetano]

Your grandfather must have been a northerner. The north-south divide among italians is a whole other can of fagioli.

[Slings and Arrows]

Great minds often think alike.

[richmwill]

I'm Italian, and I say- shut up, NIAF! I don't need to join a club to let the world know that I'm Italian, or proud to be one. I'm an American, and that's it.

[NittanyLion]

[cyborg]

I thought Scalito was his name. I thought it was just too weird to have two judges named Scalia and Scalito. Of course, I had a cup of coffee and realised that Scalito was supposed to be a some sort of slur against Alito. I would take it as a compliment. I remember the first time I got slurred over italian food *LOL* Of course, this was done by the same kids who asked me if black people really do eat watermelon. They were from the somewhere in midwest, one kid from Iowa so I just think it was not mean spirited but just ignorance. I do think that they should apologise but then I just hear my father screaming at me that Italians don't whine.

[Petronski]

...but then I just hear my father screaming at me that Italians don't whine.

They get even.

[NeoCaveman]

They get even.

So when does Shumer get a horse's head in his bed?

[Petronski]

It's strictly business.

[cyborg]

I heard him on the radio tonight and wanted to THROW UP.

[NeoCaveman]

I heard him on the radio tonight and wanted to THROW UP.

The don't call him upChuck Schumer for nothing.

[Texas Songwriter]

It should be considered a badge of honor...to be compared with Antonine Scalia. But the bastards did not mean it that way./

[no dems]

I liked the nick-name "Scalito" from the first time I heard it. Does it mean something in Italian that is non-flattering?

[nicmarlo]

Have you seen this thread?

In Case You Missed It: MSNBC's Chris Matthews On "Disgusting" Democrat Attacks On Judge Alito

Seems it more than just the "Scalito" comments that are circulating with the Rats....and I wouldn't doubt that the Italian American community doesn't like that too much, either.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

They had better be careful if the longshoreman's union gets involved...

[jimfree]

I believe I heard the expression on talk radio. Too many folks and groups have an "overdeveloped sensitivity" to any infliction of insult, blame or slight. Hence, Jessie Jackson or Al Sharpton can parachute in and scowl before cameras. Ellie Smeal can immediately record back-alley deaths of women. Ted Kennedy and Chuck Schumer can instantly plead that decades of "progress" will be undone.